The Efficacy and Biopharmaceutical Properties of a Fixed-Dose Combination of Disulfiram and Benzyl Benzoate

Scabies and hair lice are parasitic diseases that affect human skin and hair, respectively. The incidence and resistances of these infections are increasing. Tenutex® (disulfiram and benzyl benzoate emulsion) is an alternative to standard insecticides to avoid resistances. The aim of the work is to evaluate the transdermal absorption and the in vitro efficacy against scabies and hair lice after different exposition times. Dermatomed human skin was used to assess the dermal absorption using a validated High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. HEK001 keratinocytes were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of benzyl benzoate. Only benzyl benzoate was able to cross the skin, but it did not show cytotoxicity at any of the tested concentrations. The product efficacy was tested on Psoroptes ovis after direct contact and after administration on sheep skin explants at different contact times. Permethrin/malathion-resistant strains of Pediculus humanis capitis adults and eggs were directly exposed to Tenutex, and the vitality and hatchability, respectively, were evaluated. The anti-scabies study demonstrated that exposure for 6 or 24 h completely eradicated the parasite. The pediculicidal activity of Tenutex exhibited superior efficacy than standard treatment on resistant lice. The positive results obtained suggest that Tenutex® is a good treatment option, especially in drug resistance situations

The psychological science accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

The Psychological Science Accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e. a controlling message) compared to no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly-internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared to the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly-internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing: Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

Structural Changes in Nonionic Surfactant Systems

In this thesis we have studied structural changes of a nonionic surfactant self-assembly, as governed by changes in temperature and concentration. The techniques used in experimental investigations were dynamic and static light scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (using a novel specimen preparation protocol). The model systems consist of nonionic surfactants (alkyl oligo poly(oxy)ethylene ethers) C12E4, C12E5, C16E6 and C10E3 in water. These surfactants form micelles in water at lower temperatures, and planar bilayers and inverted phases at elevated temperatures. In a dilute micelle phase, the linear increase in size of wormlike micelles as a function of concentration is investigated and quantified. At higher concentrations, intermicelle interactions start to be significant. Here, micelles start to branch and overlap. When a dilute solution of nonionic wormlike micelles is rapidly heated to the temperatures where a lamellar phase normally exists, vesicles are formed. These vesicles are large and polydisperse and the size distribution depends on the rate of heating. Below a certain temperature, vesicles appear to be stable. Upon rapid increase in temperature (T-jump) to temperatures in the vicinity and above a three-phase line, vesicles fuse. The rate of fusion is determined by the final temperature of the T-jump. At higher concentrations, the behavior of lamellar phase is investigated. An unexpected lamellar phase separation in a centrifugal field is observed and a method for measuring undulation forces is developed. Upon decrease in temperature, an intermediate phase between lamellar and cubic/hexagonal phase was imaged

Vesicle formation from temperature jumps in a nonionic surfactant system

When heating a dilute sample of the binary system of tetraethyleneglycol dodecyl ether (C12E4) and water from the micellar phase (L-1) into the two-phase region of a lamellar phase (L-alpha) and excess water (W) vesicles are formed. During heating, one passes a region of phase separation in the micellar phase (L-1' + L-1") where the initial micelles rapidly fuse into larger aggregates forming the concentrated L-1 phase (L-1") with a structure of branched cylindrical micelles, a so-called "living network". The static correlation length of the micelles are increasing with increasing concentration, from ca. 10 nm to 80 nm in the concentration range of 0.0001 g/cm(3)-0.0035 g/cm(3). The overlap concentration was determined to 0.0035 g/cm(3). When the temperature reaches the L-1' + L-alpha region the network particles transform into bilayer vesicles with a z-average apparent hydrodynamic radius in the order of 200 nm depending on the composition. The size of the final vesicles depends on the extent of aggregation/fusion in the L-1' + L-1" region and hence on the rate of heating. The aggregation/fusion in the L-1' + L-1" is slower than diffusion-limited aggregation, and it is shown that 1/100 of the collisions are sticky results in the fusion event